Brian Olewnick
April-10th-2003, 12:23 PM
Eight to ten years ago, I used to go with some regularity to a small theater located beneath a bar on West 42nd St. where a friend participated in and wrote for a comedy troupe loosely organized around two guys billing themselves as the Irwin Smalls Trio. The evening would consist of stand-up, short comedic playlets, sometimes music. One guy I saw a few times was Stephen Lynch. In his early 20's at the time, he looked like he could be Brad Pitt's cousin, had a lovely tenor voice, played effective acoustic guitar and wrote extremely attractive songs. You took him for a really good, winsome folksinger type. Except. Except that his songs were about the trials of going through life with one testicle or the joys of necrophilia ("You get better every day"). His stuff was some of the funniest I'd ever heard. Given all his talents, I couldn't believe he wouldn't be showing up on SNL and elsewhere in short order.
Well, I hadn't heard anything about him in a while so I was pleasantly surprised to see in today's NYT a very nice profile (by Neil Strauss in the Pop Life section) that indicates he's finally making something of a name. Apparently he's had some specials on Comedy Central among other things. He seems to be working the same area as before as indicated by "A song describing how 'life will be strange' and how his 'whole world will change' when his grandfather dies ends up as a plea for his grandfather's demise and the ensuing inheritance. 'I love you to death', he goes on to sing, 'but I've got bills to pay.' As the song continues, it only gets worse. 'I'll jam with the Stones, I'll dine with the queen, So what's say we unplug that machine?"
It mentions another one where the title alone gets me chuckling: "What If That Guy from Smashing Pumpkins Lost His Car Keys?"
Anyone else ever heard him? Any of our friends in and around LA? (where he currently resides and performs)
Well, I hadn't heard anything about him in a while so I was pleasantly surprised to see in today's NYT a very nice profile (by Neil Strauss in the Pop Life section) that indicates he's finally making something of a name. Apparently he's had some specials on Comedy Central among other things. He seems to be working the same area as before as indicated by "A song describing how 'life will be strange' and how his 'whole world will change' when his grandfather dies ends up as a plea for his grandfather's demise and the ensuing inheritance. 'I love you to death', he goes on to sing, 'but I've got bills to pay.' As the song continues, it only gets worse. 'I'll jam with the Stones, I'll dine with the queen, So what's say we unplug that machine?"
It mentions another one where the title alone gets me chuckling: "What If That Guy from Smashing Pumpkins Lost His Car Keys?"
Anyone else ever heard him? Any of our friends in and around LA? (where he currently resides and performs)